Decision on ‘Dilbert’ was not The Herald’s to make

The Herald’s editorial board states it is exercising its First Amendment rights by publishing what it believes is of value to its readers and excludes that which it deems is not of value (“Creator’s racist rant earns ‘Dilbert’ a pink slip,” The Herald, Feb. 28) Who elected the editorial board chief judge and arbiter of the First Amendment?

That interpretation of the First Amendment is a perverse way of applying it. It’s not about restricting free speech for whatever reason it deems necessary. It’s about more free speech not less. At the end of the day, the editorial board is not the arbiter of what Herald readers should know or be exposed to in print. The readers themselves will determine that.

This dynamic is largely why many papers like The Herald are in a slow trajectory to extinction.

John Goddard

Lake Stevens